Demands
by anon004
Summary: House has been at Mayfield for a while and Cuddy and Rachael come to see him


A/N: One of the reviewers on one of my other stories asked me to write something showing the relationship between House and Rachael. I plan to do that in the other story soon, but, in the meantime, this idea came to me. I hope you like it.

**Disclaimer: Don't Own, etc**.

The month of July had been brutally hot. It was close to 100 degrees most days, with about 95% humidity. Even Florida had had lower temperatures and less humidity. So, everyone moved from their air conditioned homes to their air conditioned cars to their air conditioned offices, and, if they were the slightest bit compassionate, thought every once and a while about the people who didn't have air conditioning.

Cameron spent her days in the ER dealing with heatstroke – construction workers, elderly shut-ins who couldn't afford the electric bills that air conditioning would generate, and people stupid enough to try to jog outside any time other than when the sun was down.

The last weekend of July, a major storm was predicted on Saturday and some cooler weather – if 80 degrees could ever be called cool -- and lower humidity was predicted for Sunday. Cuddy took a chance that the weatherman would actually be right and called Mayfield. House's doctors thought it would be a good idea for him to be outside for a change and somehow convinced him to go along with the idea.

Even though it was only supposed to be for lunch, Cuddy decided to maximize the length of time she would be there, packing Rachael in the car at 10:00 and arriving at Mayfield at 11:00. She had received special permission to bring her car on to the grounds so she could set up. She had Rachael's stroller and pack and play, along with folding chairs and two coolers, one with food and another for beverages.

After everything was set up, Cuddy took Rachael to the entrance and asked for House. An orderly led him to the front door. They looked at each other but did not speak.

Cuddy had selected a spot far enough away from the entrance to give House a sense that he was getting away a bit, but not so far that he would have to walk a great distance. When they arrived at their destination, Cuddy put Rachael in her pack and play, with some toys to amuse her.

House remained standing and watching. Cuddy turned, and still without saying anything, slid her arms around House. She didn't know what to expect from him; he might push her away, or he might stand there and not move. The one thing she did not expect was what he did -- he hugged her back.

After standing there for several minutes, they both decided to move apart at the same time, almost was if they had discussed it beforehand.

"How bad is it?" Cuddy asked, knowing that House wouldn't want a bunch of small talk-ish questions like 'how are you.'

"Most days, it's not good," House acknowledged, "but it's better than it was. Amber and Kutner are mostly gone."

"Has anyone replaced them?" Cuddy questioned perceptively.

"John," House admitted, not seeing any reason to hide it.

"Oh, House," Cuddy sighed. She knew with all the issues that had gone unresolved between House and his father that this new hallucination would be particularly hard for him. "Is he here now?" Cuddy asked.

"Yes," House replied. "He has a lot of comments about your cleavage."

Cuddy was pretty sure that it was a lot worse than that, but she didn't want to push it.

It was about 11:30. "Are you hungry?"

Even though Mayfield was one of the best psychiatric hospitals in the country, like most hospitals, the food was pretty bad. Between that and the detox, House had lost almost fifteen pounds off his already thin frame. "Sure," he said, looking forward to something that was prepared in a non-institutional setting.

Cuddy opened the cooler and handed him a sandwich. It took him a second after he looked at it to realize it was a ruben. House didn't know if Cuddy The Vegetarian could actually make a decent ruben, but he was genuinely touched that she made the effort.

He unwrapped it and took a bite. It was cold, salty, and greasy, just the way he liked it. He murmured his approval.

Cuddy took out some baby food for Rachael, picked her up and began feeding her.

"She's gotten bigger," House observed through bites of his sandwich.

"She's still only in the 30th percentile, but considering where she started, she's doing very well," Cuddy said proudly.

After Rachael finished about half of the jar, she began to lose interest. Cuddy put her in back in the pack and play and got herself a salad from the cooler.

At this point, House was finished with his sandwich. Cuddy retrieved a bag of chips and tossed them to House. He caught them easily. House wasn't sure if this was a test of his reflexes after detox or if Cuddy was trying to make him feel like his old self, but he accepted the snack without questioning it.

"So, how are things back, at . . . the other hospital?" House asked, deeply aware that his reality was very different from hers at the moment, and maybe for a long time to come.

"The usual," she said. "Department heads complaining about their budgets and donors wanting their egos stroked."

"It's been a while since my ego was stroked," House said, managing to be lascivious and wistful at the same time.

Cuddy smiled. "Before I forget, I just wanted to ask if there is anything I can do for you." Cuddy tried to sound as casual as possible.

House debated whether to tell her the specifics of the delusion that had finally forced him to come to Mayfield. He decided the day was too nice to ruin with his craziness. Also, it was just too important to him to bring up in a setting like this. "No, I'm okay," House tried to lie until he noticed the skepticism on Cuddy's face. "At least I am right now."

Rachael began to fuss in her pack and play. Cuddy went to pick her up. "Whoa, she needs a change," Cuddy said as her face twisted.

She grabbed Rachael's diaper bag and put the changing pad on the grass. She got out the new diaper, the wipes and the zinc oxide. After she was done, Cuddy was holding the used diaper in her hand.

"I think there's a trash can over there," House said, pointing near the building.

Cuddy returned and used some hand sanitizer. Rachael was still a little fussy. Cuddy pulled out a bottle and began feeding it to her.

"Don't they usually like that warmed up?" House asked, more in an effort to make conversation than anything else.

"I don't suppose you have a microwave in your back pocket, do you?" Cuddy asked. "Actually, it's been so hot that I think she prefers it cold these days. Or at least that's what I tell myself so I don't feel so badly when I can't heat it up for her."

"Great to see that you haven't lost those mad rationalization skills," House commented.

"Great to see your snark muscles haven't fallen into disuse," Cuddy responded.

Although an outsider might find this conversation to be inappropriate for a still-insecure new mother and a still-recovering psychiatric patient, it was like old times for House and Cuddy. They reveled in the roughness of their give-and-take.

Rachael began to get sleepy. Cuddy put her in the pack and play. "Where are the bathrooms?" Cuddy asked.

House pointed to the visitor bathrooms and Cuddy headed in that direction. She was surprised to find a fairly long line outside the ladies room. Cuddy looked over and saw no line for the mens room. _How typical. I guess the make-women-wait-to-deal-with-even-their-basic-functions-rule applies here, too_, Cuddy thought resentfully. As she waited, she couldn't remember seeing enough women visitors outside to justify such a line. She concluded that Sunday was a popular visiting day, and most of the patients weren't allowed outside like House was. _Maybe he is getting better._ She wasn't sure if that was just wishful thinking or not.

She finished her business and went back outside. As she approached their spot, she stopped and looked at the scene before her. House had picked up Rachael and was holding her. Not the way he usually held babies, in his hands and at arms length. He had picked her up and was cradling her in his arms.

Cuddy held her breath as Rachael reached out and began exploring House's face with her hand. As her hand covered his mouth, he gently kissed her palm. Cuddy watched in astonishment as House kissed Rachael's other hand, both of her feet and placed several soft kisses on her head. _Damn, that must be some medication House is on_, Cuddy thought.

Cuddy cleared her throat loudly to give House some warning as she approached, in case he wanted to put Rachael back in the pack and play or otherwise deny what he had just done. House continued to hold Rachael and he kept his face close to her head.

"I never noticed how babies smell before," he commented. "Innocence and pure need."

"That's only because of the fresh diaper," Cuddy commented. "Wait until she poops. Once she started eating sold food, it got nasty."

It took Cuddy just a second to recognize the role reversal. House was acting reverential about the baby and Cuddy was snarking. _I wonder if he'd share some of those meds_.

House smiled. "Do you want to take her back, or can I hold her a little longer?"

"Please, hold her all you like," Cuddy managed to say after she recovered from the shock.

House continued to rock Rachael in his arms and give her kisses at random intervals. He even sang softly to her to get her to fall asleep.

After she did, Cuddy took her and carefully placed her in the pack and play.

Cuddy wanted to just enjoy the moment, but her curiosity got the best of her.

"House," she began, "I've never seen you hold a baby like that. Why did you do that?"

"Don't worry, Cuddy. I haven't become a selfless idiot who loves puppies and kittens." House replied. "I held her because it feels good to me."

"Why?" Cuddy asked.

"I don't know. She's soft, she's warm. She doesn't care that it's me holding her." House reasoned out loud. "That's the thing with babies. The only demands they make on you is to take care of them and hold them . . . they don't expect you to be the perfect son, the smartest kid in the class, the most brilliant doctor, the boyfriend who shrugs off getting his leg mutilated against his will, the employee who does clinic duty even when that mutilated leg is giving him horrible pain, the best friend who has to demonstrate his friendship by having the crack in his skull widened only to find out he never really was a friend at all, and the boss who should have seen his employee's suicide coming but didn't . . . "

Cuddy had no idea what to say to House. Since she had always seen House as a selfish bastard, she never really thought of the ridiculously unreasonable demands people made on himor, for that matter, that he made on himself. She also noticed that other than clinic duty, House hadn't mentioned anything about the demands of their dysfunctional relationship.

Cuddy was dying to ask him about it, but she decided against it. Wilson had told her in some detail about the delusion that landed House in Mayfield, and Cuddy had promised Wilson (and herself) that she wouldn't say anything unless House wanted to talk about it.

Since Cuddy didn't know what to say other than a bunch of platitudes that she knew would be of no use to House, she went over to him, sat in his lap (well, really just his left leg), and put her arms around him. Again, she braced herself to be pushed away, either physically or by some sarcastic comment. This time she wasn't nearly as surprised when House put his arms around her and put his head against her chest. Again, the gesture seemed both lascivious and wistful at the same time.

They sat together like that for a long time, with Cuddy occasionally asking House if his leg was getting tired, and House insisting it was fine. Finally, Rachael stirred in the pack and play, letting them know her nap was over.

Cuddy got up to get her, and House motioned for Cuddy to give him the baby and for Cuddy to move her chair so that it was next to House's chair. They spent what was left of the afternoon passing Rachael back and forth between them and interacting with her. It made the time pass without either of them having to say anything of real importance.

At 4:30, an orderly came out of the building and reminded House that he would have to be back inside for dinner by 5:00.

Cuddy changed Rachael and had House give her a bottle as Cuddy packed up her car.

"Goodbye, baby girl," House said, kissing Rachael one last time as Cuddy took her and buckled her in her car seat.

Cuddy continued to be astonished at House's tenderness toward Rachael. _Maybe he needed to hit rock bottom before he could be able to express any positive feelings_, Cuddy wondered.

"This is it," Cuddy said as she moved toward the driver's side of her car. She stood outside the door and turned to face House. They looked into each other's eyes. Without thinking, Cuddy put her arms around House and pulled him into a kiss. It was neither as passionate nor as desperate as their last kiss the night she lost Joy, but it was still full of longing and the pain of their impending separation.

After their lips parted, Cuddy gave House one last hug and kiss on the cheek and got into her car.

"Goodbye, Cuddy." House said as she buckled her seat belt, started her car and shifted into gear.

"Goodbye, House," Cuddy managed to say without breaking down. As she drove away, she was thankful that she had remembered to put a box of tissues on the passenger seat. She kept wiping her eyes so she could see on the long drive home.

House watched her car leave through the outer gate. He turned back and slowly headed into the building, his shoulders appearing to sag under a tremendous weight. He was greeted by an orderly who was there to escort him to the dining hall for dinner.

"You have a beautiful family," the orderly remarked. "If that isn't a reason to get well and get out of here, I don't know what is."

House didn't comment, but gave the orderly a rueful smile. Reason, indeed.


End file.
